1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to security label systems, and more particularly to the advantageous use of security labels to indicate when an item has been tampered with.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The merchandising of compact disc (hereinafter "CD") multimedia is a growing industry. CD multimedia are used in audio, video, audio-video, and computer based applications. Since many similar looking duplicate recordings for a particular CD program are often available from many different sources, it is difficult for merchants to track, identify, and distinguish their inventory from the inventory of others.
Security is an important concern associated with the rental, loan, or sale of such merchandise. Items such as commercially prerecorded compact disc programs are available from rental shops, stores, and libraries. It is important for a merchant to have a simple means to secure and identify its merchandise. For example, a merchant needs to determine whether merchandise which was rented from it is the same merchandise that is being returned to it to deter customers from attempting to switch good rented merchandise with bad return merchandise (such as a customer's scratched disc).
The switching of CDs in good condition with defective CDs obtained from other sources is a difficult problem that merchants face. Merchandise switching is a significant problem given the high volume of business involved in the compact disc industry and the difficulty of detecting such illegal switching. An easy and reliable way for a merchant to determine whether the digital data contained on a CD is damaged or defective is required. Although obvious imperfections such as scratches or cracks may be detected by a simple visual inspection, such inspection cannot detect defects in the digital data. Even though defects may be discovered during regular speed playback of an entire CD, such means is commercially impractical since it requires too much time for merchants dealing in high volume to check every CD returned to them. Although high-speed electronic scanning devices for checking digital recordings currently exist, such devices are effectively unavailable to the individual merchant due to cost prohibitions and the limited availability of such technology.
Thus, there is a need for merchants to conveniently and inexpensively maintain the security of their merchandise. In the past, merchants have unsuccessfully employed various methods in an attempt to track and identify their inventory. Engraving, stamping, painting, and marking are several methods that merchants have employed. Due to practical problems, those methods are not effectively applicable to the CD multimedia rental industry.
As is known in the art and industry of compact disc multimedia, graphical information identifying the program title and author of a recording is ordinarily placed on the top surface of a CD. Digital data is stored on or just below that top surface. In particular, digital data is stored immediately below such graphical information between the top surface and the bottom surface of the CD. The bottom surface of the CD is comprised of a section of clear material through which, in accessing the data, a laser beam from a compact disc player radiates upward.
The digital data is delicate and can easily be damaged during processes typically used to identify merchandise which include engraving, stamping, or marking. As stated above, the digital data is closer to the top surface of the CD than it is to the bottom surface. Although the top surface of a CD usually contains graphical information applied by silk screening which partially protects the digital data from damage, the silk screened layer is thinner and more fragile than the bottom surface of a CD which comprises clear material. Thus, there is a greater need to protect the top surface of the CD and the digital data close to it from physical damage such as scratching.
Engraving may be used to identify merchandise. Engraving CDs with identification markings is problematic since engraving is often attempted on the top surface of the CD and such engraving could interfere with the digital data next to it. Moreover, even if engraving is attempted on the bottom surface of a CD where it is less likely that digital data will be damaged, the data may still be damaged during engraving due to the pressure required to be placed on the top of the CD to hold it in place and the heat that may result from such engraving. In addition, engraving may be undesirable since it is a relatively labor intensive and costly process, especially in high volume situations.
Thus, merchants have considered other less invasive methods of identification such as, for example, painting. Painting also fails to provide an effective means of identification or security due to the labor required, the cost required, and the inherent unreliability of the process given the ease with which a person can duplicate such painting. Moreover, painting may pose other problems since harm to the digital data must be avoided.
Still another option of identifying and securing inventory is the use of ordinary adhesive stickers. Such stickers do not provide an effective means of identification due to the ease with which such stickers can be removed and reaffixed to similar looking items without a means of clearly indicating any tampering with the sticker. In addition, such stickers may be difficult to manually apply to CDs (since any sticker should be precisely centered on the CD) in the absence of an applicator workstation such as the one disclosed herein. In addition, such stickers may be easy to duplicate.
As a result, heretofore, there has been no inexpensive and effective system to maintain the security of said items as provided by this invention.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a security label system that overcomes the aforementioned problems in the prior art.
It is a specific object of this invention to provide an inexpensive means for a merchant to readily identify and distinguish his merchandise from similar looking merchandise.
It is another object of this invention to provide an inexpensive means for a merchant to protect his merchandise from tampering, theft, and damage.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a means for manually and conveniently applying a specially formulated non-transferable security label or a protective label to merchandise such as compact disc multimedia.